In:
Journal of Neuroimaging, Wiley, Vol. 17, No. 4 ( 2007-10), p. 277-285
Abstract:
Over and above typical motor alterations, executive and working memory (WM) impairment can also occur in early idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). We aimed to investigate the compensatory neural processes involved in WM performance, as well as the networks involved in the long‐term memory transfer from short‐term stores in PD. METHODS Relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was mapped with H 2 O 15 ‐PET in eight treated nondemented PD patients while performing a WM verbal double‐task (Brown‐Peterson paradigm) using both short (6‐second) and long (18‐second) delays. RESULTS As compared to nine age‐matched healthy subjects, performance of the PD group was only slightly reduced on the short‐delay but markedly impaired on the long‐delay task. Underlying the relatively preserved short‐delay performance, the PD group exhibited overactivation of prefrontal and parietal areas involved in attention‐demanding processes, suggestive of efficient compensatory processes. Further supporting this, significant positive correlations were found between short‐delay performance and rCBF in the bilateral inferior parietal cortex. In contrast, the lack of overactivation with the long‐delay task together with posterior cingulate hypoactivation would support the idea of functional disconnection impairing transfer of information from prefrontal onto (para)limbic areas. These findings suggest novel areas of investigation into early cognitive impairments in PD.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1051-2284
,
1552-6569
DOI:
10.1111/jon.2007.17.issue-4
DOI:
10.1111/j.1552-6569.2007.00152.x
Language:
English
Publisher:
Wiley
Publication Date:
2007
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2035400-9
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